Oil lubrication system for a staging winch drive



United States Patent Sidney L. Fisher Renton, Wash.

Oct. 21, 1968 Dec. 22, 1970 Spider Staging, Inc.

Seattle, Wash.

in corporation of Washington Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee OIL LUBRICATION SYSTEM FOR A STAGING WINCH DRIVE Primary Examiner-Manuel A. Antonakas Attorney-Graybeal, Cole and Barnard ABSTRACT: First and second gear-containing chambers are separated by a barrier. A lubricant transfer tube extends through said barrier. its inlet end is cut at a slant and the remaining sidewall portion thereof extends into a film of lubricant picked up by a surface of a gear in one of said chambers. During rotation of the gear towards said cut the lubricant is sheared off from the gear by said wall portion and flows into the end opening of the tube. During rotation in the opposite direction the sheared lubricant enters into the tube through a side opening provided said sidewall portion.

OIL LUBRICATION SYSTEM FOR A STAGING WINCH DRIVE CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application discloses subject matter common to an application of Albert Brauss, entitled Level Winding Winch Mechanism and Heavy-Duty Drive Therefor, filed Oct. 21, 1968, and assigned Ser. No. 769,326.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention pertains to winch mechanisms and more par ticularly relates to an improved lubrication system for a drive unit for rotating the winch drum.

Description of the Prior Art v With the increasingly higher elevations of modern buildings, for which the suspended staging is used,it is necessary to increase the wire rope carrying capacity of the winch drums. The greater size and capacity of the winch drum tends to increase the load and as a result increases the wear and thus the operating temperature of the drive gears. It is also desirable in the drive unit to transfer oil quickly from one casing to another to quickly restore reservoirlevels in the event the drive unit is stored in such a manner that most of the oil collects in one casing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to improved lubrication system for increasing cooling capacity and increasing the circulation of the oil. The higher cooling capacity and quick restoration of the oil to the various casings is accomplished by a supplementary oil transfer tube that wipes oil from the. ring gear and carries it to the worm gear casing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING I FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the drive unit partly in section and with parts broken away for clarity and FIG. 5 is an enlarged scale view in the vicinity of where the inlet portion of the transfer tube shears lubricant from the gear.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With respect to a general description of the staging equipment with which the winch unit is used, reference is made to said Brauss application Ser. No. 769,326 and to U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,094, to Fisher, issued Aug. 29, 1961. As readily understood and as described in the aforesaid Fisher U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,094, this type of equipment is operator controlled and is designed to be suspended from a single wire rope along the side of a building,'antenna structure, stack or the like. The operator can selectively control up and down movement of the staging while riding ina cage thereon. It is important on this type of equipment, where safety and reliability of operation are required, that the winch unit not malfunction due to excessive heat or inadequate lubrication.

The winch unit W is secured to the staging frame by a mounting plate 40 and includes a winch drum WD. The winch drum is fixed to an axle 46 which is rotatably secured to the mounting plate by bearing blocks 42 and 44. An electric motor M and suitable driving gear, to be later described, are also secured to the winch mounting plate 40 for rotating the winch drum. The motor M is a suitable reversible electric motor or. in the alternative, may be an air motor or an internal combustion engine as disclosed in the aforesaid Fisher U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,094 The motor and drive gearing are suitable to rotate the winch drum at the desired speed to provide a vertical staging climbing rate of approximately 18 feet per minute. Higher or lower speeds may, of course, also be obtained depending on the safety requirements and the type 0 service to which the staging is being employed. The driving arrangement employed for the winch unit illustrated will now be described; it should be understood however that the improved lubrication system is also advantageously employed with the winch unit shown in the aforementioned Fisher U.S. Pat. 2,998,094. A drive unit includes three interconnected housings, namely, a spur gear housing 76, a worm gear housing 78 and a ring gear housing 80. As best shown in FIG. 4 a common vertical wall 82 interconnects the spur gear housing and the worm gear housing. A top wall 86, (FIG. 3), covers the worm gear housing and is provided with an oil transfer blade or fin as, for a purpose to be later described, that terminates above a hollow tube 87m0unted in the common vertical wall 82 and passing into the spur gear housing. The tube 87 is cut away to form a trough to catch the oil flowing from the tin 86.

The motor M is bolted to the spur gear housing 76 and includes an output shaft 90 having a spur pinion gear 91 keyed thereto. The pinion gear 91 drives a pair of spaced spur gears 92 which are keyed to a pair of rotatably'mounted worm shafts 94. Each worm shaft includes aworm 96 which meshes with a worm gear 97 fixed on a common shaft 98. The common shaft is rotatably mounted in suitably hearings in the end walls of the worm gear housing 78. One end of the common shaft 98 extends into the ring gear housing 80 and has keyed to its free end a suitable bevel pinion 102. The bevel pinion meshes with a bevel ring gear 104 that is keyed to the axle 46 of the winch drum WD.

Oil dippers 110, made of any suitable material, such as synthetic, oil resistant rubber, include a plurality of peripherally spaced cups 112 which dip into an oil reservoir 114, common to the spur and worm gear housings 76 and 78, and fling the oil onto the worms 96. The oil dippers are a supplementary lubricating feature and assist in oil distribution.

As is best shown in FIG. 3, the reservoir 114 is at the same level in each housing due to free flow through a port 116 in the common wall 82. The worm gears 97 and spur pinion gear 91 are lubricated by dipping into the reservoir and one worm and one spur gear are lubricated by direct transfer of the oil from the respective worm gear or spur pinion gear. For example, if the spur pinion gear is rotating clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 2, the left-hand spur gear will receive most of the oil carried from the reservoir 114 by the pinion. The right-hand spur gear is lubricated by oil passing through the tube 87 that flows onto the pinion 91 and thus directly onto the right-hand spur gear. An additional reservoir 120 is provided in the ring gear housing to lubricate the ring gear 104 and the beveled pinion gear I02 and also provides an additional reservoir for increased cooling capacity. As is thus readily apparent all parts of the driving gearing are lubricated at all times. To still further increase cooling the worrn gear housing 78 is provided with a plurality of fins I22 that dissipate heat generated into the surrounding ambient air.

As ,best shown in FIG. 2, a supplementary oil transfer tube extends between the ring gear housing 80 and the worm gear housing 78 and is fastened; securely by any suitable means. The tube has an open end 132 cut off at an angle and terminating adjacent the ring gear IIMA small opening 13d is provided in the underside of the tube near the open end 132.

As will be readily apparent, as the ring gear rotates clockwise,

as viewed in FIG. 2, oil existing as a layer or film on the ring gear is wiped or sheared from the ring gear and is carried into the worm gear housingAs the ring gear rotates counterclockwise the oil passes into the tube through the opening I34 (FIG. 5). The oil returns to the ring gear housing through a port 135. Thus oil is transferred as the ring gear rotates in either direction. This feature is desirable for quickly redistributing the oil from the ring gear housing into the worm gear housing after the unit is allowed to be stored with the ring gear housing lower than the other housings. It also provides additional oil circulation and an additional reservoir to increase the removal of heat from the worm gear housing.

Having considered in detail the specific construction and operation of a preferred embodiment of the invention, various other modifications thereof will readily occur to those skilled in the art, within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a power transmission which includes housing means defining first and second chambers separated by a barrier, and a rotating gear mounted to rotate in the first chamber, through a body of liquid lubricant contained in a lower portion of such chamber, said gear picking up a film of said lubricant on a surface portion thereof as it rotates, the improvement comprising: a lubricant transfer tube mounted on and extending through said barrier from said first chamber to said second chamber, said lubricant transfer tube having an inlet end portion positioned to be in said lubricant film and including a wall portion positioned to shear lubricant from said gear surface during rotation of the gear in either direction, means defining a first entrance into said tube for lubricant removed during rotation of said gear in one direction, and means defining a second entrance into said tube for lubricant sheared from the gear during rotation of said gear in the opposite direction.

2. The improvement of claim 1, wherein the inlet end portion of said tube is obligingly cut in a plane generally crosswise to the surface on which the oil film exists, wherein the remaining part of the inlet end portion includes the said shearing wall portion, and wherein the end opening into said tube at said cut is the said first entrance.

3. The improvement of claim 2, wherein a side opening is provided in said wall portion, wherein the general plane of said opening is also generally crosswise to the surface on which the oil film exists, and wherein said side opening is the said second entrance. v I

4. The improvement of claim 1, wherein a side opening is provided in said wall portion, the general plane of said side opening is generally crosswise to the surface on which the oil film exists, and said side opening constitutes one of said entrances.

5. The improvement of claim 1, wherein further gearing is provided in the second chamber, in a position to be lubricated by the lubricant transferred through said tube.

6. The improvement of claim 2, wherein further gearing is provided in the second chamber, in a position to be lubricated by the lubricant transferred through said tube.

7. The improvement of claim 3, wherein further gearing is provided in the second chamber, in a position to be lubricated by the lubricant transferred through said tube. 

